Rob Ash Fired

[ilovethecats]

ILTC, this is eGriz, not BN. Lots of maroon glasses here, lots of blue there. You are probably much more in the know about bobcat issues than most everyone on this site. Silence on the administrative side creates speculation.

there is rampant speculation on that board as well and i understand it. but truthfully, in times like this i prefer not to get caught up over there. i can talk about the same issues and football over here and avoid much of the frustration.

i'll say i have mixed emotions right now. even for guys who wanted ash gone, the qb club meeting tonight was like a funeral. just the fact that ash still did it shows what kind of guy he was. but it was rough. it's real people losing their jobs here. that said, i'm excited for change and possibility going forward. if nothing else, it's going to make these boards pretty interesting for a while.

 

[UMGriz75]

i know many big time boosters. i was in the quarterback club tonight where ash spoke. very somber by the way.

Fields made the interesting comment that the Quarterback Club had no voice in the firing. Interesting way to encourage boosters ....

 

[grizindabox]

It seems to me the problem the kitties are going to have finding a new coach is that candidates will see that when you win 8 games per year and run a squeeky clean program, if you have 5-6 season and don't beat the Griz you are gone.

while i'm not surprised some are trying to make this all about the griz, it's just not the case. what UM75 is saying is also not the case. i know many big time boosters. i was in the quarterback club tonight where ash spoke. very somber by the way.

not every booster is going to like head coaches. just as some weren't donating money while ash was here, some may stop giving because ash is gone. but the arrogance over here is striking. ash wasn't this incredible coach who only got fired because he couldn't beat the griz... :roll:

the irony of these posts is unbelievable. i could find a thousand posts here about how shitty ash was. how he couldn't beat the griz. how he didn't win in november. about how he couldn't beat ewu or other teams relevant in the big sky. about how you wanted him to stay forever because you knew all these flaws. now we do something about it and some are acting like it's some crazy travesty.

some are being way too dramatic anyway. did some of you really not see the writing on the wall? ash is an excellent guy. i think he's a good coach too. not great but good. he ran a tight ship and from everything i've heard players liked him. he won many games, but most of those games were ones we should have won. he got fired for several reasons. his record against the griz and eagles was terrible. he had a poor record against teams .500 or better. in big games we lost...we got hammered. our record in the playoffs was not good. and he had a terrible defense last year and chose not to fix it only to see it get worse this year.

we could have kept ash. he likely would have had a winning record again next year. if he stuck around long enough he could build up another streak of winning seasons. winning records in the big sky conference, especially with our out of conference schedules haven't been difficult to achieve. but it doesn't matter if we keep getting drilled by the griz, the eagles, and any team we happen to meet in the playoffs.

people can keep harping on the fact that we fired this poor coach after one losing season. that we have such crazy expectations to do so. i wouldn't expect anything else on this board. people can try to make this as bad as they want because ash had an overall good win/loss record. but anyone with any objectivity can look at the stats and see that he just wasn't getting the job done in the games that mattered. he said as much this evening.

i wish rob all the best. but i refuse to think i'm delusional for wanting a guy to not only have a winning season, but also not get hammered by any decent team we play.

:idea:

75 has been off his meds for several weeks...

 

[ilovethecats]

i know many big time boosters. i was in the quarterback club tonight where ash spoke. very somber by the way.

Fields made the interesting comment that the Quarterback Club had no voice in the firing. Interesting way to encourage boosters ....

you think boosters should have a voice in firing coaches? i sure don't. but i do know that a large portion of our fanbase have been disappointed with ash. and amongst those are some big spenders. not different than any other program. but they don't fire and hire coaches. if big spending boosters had enough pull to fire a coach here, sadly ash would have been gone after the shsu playoff debacle.

 

[UMGriz75]

the irony of these posts is unbelievable. i could find a thousand posts here about how shitty ash was. how he couldn't beat the griz. how he didn't win in november. about how he couldn't beat ewu or other teams relevant in the big sky. about how you wanted him to stay forever because you knew all these flaws. now we do something about it and some are acting like it's some crazy travesty.

My point was the way it was done. After his successes, you don't publicly humiliate the man with a doufous press conference that humiliated the program as well. Rivalry aside, you give a guy like that some grace and the opportunity to make it his own decision. This looked more like an episode of the Sopranos. A bad episode of the Sopranos.

 

[UMGriz75]

75 has been off his meds for several weeks...

Ya, ya, last week you were all about Stitt wouldn't be able to do anything with these players, until he recruited his own. Did you change your meds?

 

[UMGriz75]

you think boosters should have a voice in firing coaches? i sure don't. but i do know that a large portion of our fanbase have been disappointed with ash. and amongst those are some big spenders. not different than any other program. but they don't fire and hire coaches. if big spending boosters had enough pull to fire a coach here, sadly ash would have been gone after the shsu playoff debacle.

Don't be thick. Public relations is the biggest part of this, and you don't announce at a press conference that a group you try and get contributions from played no role. That's thick, yet another gratuitous and needless point. "I'm sorry, I'd like you to donate money, but your opinion counts for zilch before and after you write your check."

It's just a stupid thing to say.

That doesn't mean you have to take everyone's opinion at face value, or weigh them all equally, but you give donors the respect that you will at least hear their opinions instead of publicly saying "they don't count." It's just something he didn't need to say.

 

[grizindabox]

75 has been off his meds for several weeks...

Ya, ya, last week you were all about Stitt wouldn't be able to do anything with these players, until he recruited his own. Did you change your meds?

Actually I said he would be better when he recruited his own players and part of the struggles this season was meshing what he wants to do with what he has....not even close to what you said...

 

[ilovethecats]

the irony of these posts is unbelievable. i could find a thousand posts here about how shitty ash was. how he couldn't beat the griz. how he didn't win in november. about how he couldn't beat ewu or other teams relevant in the big sky. about how you wanted him to stay forever because you knew all these flaws. now we do something about it and some are acting like it's some crazy travesty.

My point was the way it was done. After his successes, you don't publicly humiliate the man with a doufous press conference that humiliated the program as well. Rivalry aside, you give a guy like that some grace and the opportunity to make it his own decision. This looked more like an episode of the Sopranos.

and i don't necessarily disagree with this. but details are still coming out. maybe there were other routes to take but ash declined? i don't know. not sure what else they could have done though. isn't there a press conference everytime a coach is hired and fired?

and from listening to ash this evening, i don't think he's humiliated in the least. i don't think he feels disrespected either. in fact, he was shown a ton of respect by boosters and co-workers alike.

again, i'm not making excuses for fields. i think he should be gone as well. but because that decision wasn't made, i don't see how he had a choice to make one last-ditch ever to change the direction of our program. and while i feel bad for ash and even more for his staff, i don't feel that this firing was any different from others i have seen in college programs.

 

[EverettGriz]

ash wasn't this incredible coach who only got fired because he couldn't beat the griz.

Good post, ILTC. And this is undoubtedly true.

But to suggest it didn't have an impact is naive. Had Ash been 7-2 against the Griz, he's talking about how he's going to shore up the defense next year, and how excited he is to have Dakota back for another season.

 

[UMGriz75]

the irony of these posts is unbelievable. i could find a thousand posts here about how shitty ash was. how he couldn't beat the griz. how he didn't win in november. about how he couldn't beat ewu or other teams relevant in the big sky. about how you wanted him to stay forever because you knew all these flaws. now we do something about it and some are acting like it's some crazy travesty.

My point was the way it was done. After his successes, you don't publicly humiliate the man with a doufous press conference that humiliated the program as well. Rivalry aside, you give a guy like that some grace and the opportunity to make it his own decision. This looked more like an episode of the Sopranos.

and i don't necessarily disagree with this. but details are still coming out. maybe there were other routes to take but ash declined? i don't know. not sure what else they could have done though. isn't there a press conference everytime a coach is hired and fired?

They even have press conferences when coaches announce their retirement, that they made their own decision that it was a good time to retire and that this kind of decision is often made after a generous buy-out, and the opportunity to go out on one's own terms. Age 64 is not the time to be job-hunting after a very public firing.

I doubt between Saturday afternoon and this morning there was much time given to considering that approach.

 

[ilovethecats]

you think boosters should have a voice in firing coaches? i sure don't. but i do know that a large portion of our fanbase have been disappointed with ash. and amongst those are some big spenders. not different than any other program. but they don't fire and hire coaches. if big spending boosters had enough pull to fire a coach here, sadly ash would have been gone after the shsu playoff debacle.

Don't be thick. Public relations is the biggest part of this, and you don't announce at a press conference that a group you try and get contributions from played no role. That's thick, yet another gratuitous and needless point. "I'm sorry, I'd like you to donate money, but your opinion counts for zilch before and after you write your check."

It's just a stupid thing to say.

i'd tell you not to be thick. he talks to the boosters behind closed doors. this was a public press conference, where is words will be in print and all over social media. do you think it sounds good if he says that it was money and big boosters who made this decision? doesn't that look bad? doesn't that make him look weak?

obviously boosters are very important and you don't want to lose money. so while i agree with him that boosters weren't a "voice" for the firing, it doesn't mean that he didn't take them and our entire fanbase in consideration. and for the sake of argument lets say some huge donors made this call. they threatened to not donate another penny unless ash was gone. is fields going to say that? no. he'll keep his boosters happy while at the same time making it clear that he's the AD, he makes the decisions.

honestly, i feel like you're really reaching to make this appear way worse than it is.

 

[ilovethecats]

ash wasn't this incredible coach who only got fired because he couldn't beat the griz.

Good post, ILTC. And this is undoubtedly true.

But to suggest it didn't have an impact is naive. Had Ash been 7-2 against the Griz, he's talking about how he's going to shore up the defense next year, and how excited he is to have Dakota back for another season.

no doubt about it. i have said as much several times. had he been 7-2 against you guys instead of 2-7 he would have more time. but even at 7-2, if we still continued to get killed by ewu, still got killed in playoff games at home, still lost big sky games to above average big sky teams, and still fielded a terrible defense this would still happen. just maybe a little while down the road.

the sad truth is that in nearly a decade he has shown that he can't win these big games and i think that was the deciding factor in all this. it's the sad reality of sports.

 

[UMGriz75]

i'd tell you not to be thick. he talks to the boosters behind closed doors. this was a public press conference, where is words will be in print and all over social media. do you think it sounds good if he says that it was money and big boosters who made this decision? doesn't that look bad? doesn't that make him look weak?

obviously boosters are very important and you don't want to lose money. so while i agree with him that boosters weren't a "voice" for the firing, it doesn't mean that he didn't take them and our entire fanbase in consideration. and for the sake of argument lets say some huge donors made this call. they threatened to not donate another penny unless ash was gone. is fields going to say that? no. he'll keep his boosters happy while at the same time making it clear that he's the AD, he makes the decisions.

It made him appear stupid. He didn't need to say it all, that's the problem here. It's like the start of the Press conference. We fired Rob Ash, any questions? Oh wait, he was a fine coach. NOW, any questions?

If there is nothing to be gained by saying the boosters opinions didn't count, then there's no need to say it. What was the point? To get them to write checks? So that's how it's done at "elite" programs!

It's always the better way to say, "we sought out a variety of opinions from a broad spectrum of stakeholders in Bobcat football, and we certainly have listened to a lot of input." You just don't have to say, specifically, no, we don't listen to anybody in our QB Club. Oh, and by the way, we are seeking members.

 

[EverettGriz]

Nope. I agree 100%, ILTC. In fact, when you peeled away the underlying smack, I think Griz fans saw and noted that on here long before Cat fans did (or were willing to admit it).

 

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

It seems to me the problem the kitties are going to have finding a new coach is that candidates will see that when you win 8 games per year and run a squeeky clean program, if you have 5-6 season and don't beat the Griz you are gone.

while i'm not surprised some are trying to make this all about the griz, it's just not the case. what UM75 is saying is also not the case. i know many big time boosters. i was in the quarterback club tonight where ash spoke. very somber by the way.

not every booster is going to like head coaches. just as some weren't donating money while ash was here, some may stop giving because ash is gone. but the arrogance over here is striking. ash wasn't this incredible coach who only got fired because he couldn't beat the griz... :roll:

the irony of these posts is unbelievable. i could find a thousand posts here about how shitty ash was. how he couldn't beat the griz. how he didn't win in november. about how he couldn't beat ewu or other teams relevant in the big sky. about how you wanted him to stay forever because you knew all these flaws. now we do something about it and some are acting like it's some crazy travesty.

some are being way too dramatic anyway. did some of you really not see the writing on the wall? ash is an excellent guy. i think he's a good coach too. not great but good. he ran a tight ship and from everything i've heard players liked him. he won many games, but most of those games were ones we should have won. he got fired for several reasons. his record against the griz and eagles was terrible. he had a poor record against teams .500 or better. in big games we lost...we got hammered. our record in the playoffs was not good. and he had a terrible defense last year and chose not to fix it only to see it get worse this year.

we could have kept ash. he likely would have had a winning record again next year. if he stuck around long enough he could build up another streak of winning seasons. winning records in the big sky conference, especially with our out of conference schedules haven't been difficult to achieve. but it doesn't matter if we keep getting drilled by the griz, the eagles, and any team we happen to meet in the playoffs.

people can keep harping on the fact that we fired this poor coach after one losing season. that we have such crazy expectations to do so. i wouldn't expect anything else on this board. people can try to make this as bad as they want because ash had an overall good win/loss record. but anyone with any objectivity can look at the stats and see that he just wasn't getting the job done in the games that mattered. he said as much this evening.

i wish rob all the best. but i refuse to think i'm delusional for wanting a guy to not only have a winning season, but also not get hammered by any decent team we play.

:idea:

75 has been off his meds for several weeks...

And he should learn brevity from mtgrizrule.....................

 

[Griz Time]

This is the only comment I'll make about Coach Ash from someone 30k ft away from their program.
That coach came in at a time where the former assistant coach was busted for dealing drugs, former player with a murder, etc. I'm not trying to dig up skeletons as the Griz have their own.
Point is, Ash came in cleaned up that program, which tremendously, IMO. Those kids were graduating and the incidents that did make the news were a heck of a lot more minor than compared to the big human. My guess is the Cats losing some top in state talent last year plus this season, of course ending with us pushed the froth to the top.
I think coach Ash is a good coach. It's obvious that boosters rule the day.
I feel bad for him and wished he had at least got one more year to turn the tide.
I'm not a cat fan at all, but I'm a Rob Ash corner guy. Probably would've thought the same had he been in Missoula but we had our own in a way with Delaney.
Best wishes Coach Ash.

 

[EverettGriz]

And he should learn brevity from mtgrizrule

Ouch!

:lol:


But really, oh so true.

 

[ilovethecats]

It made him appear stupid. He didn't need to say it all, that's the problem here.

appear stupid...?

i'm going to save you time here 75. you won't get an argument on this point.

i guess all i'm saying is that this isn't some crazy firing. it's not because we have delusional expectations. and i don't feel that there will be some huge backlash because of this. and i'm more sure of that now after hearing ash speak.

 

[rocklobster]

Hammer, I've thought a lot about the Brekke thing over the years, especially at Cat-Griz time, and honestly, now that he's a senior, he went where he should have went. No disrespect to the kid personally, but he's not better than Jordan Canada, Travon Van, John Nyguen or Jeremy Calhoun and those are the Griz' main running backs the last two seasons. I don't think the Griz missed out on anything by Brekke switching sides, and I'm sure Gunnar is now a proud Bobcat anyway.

I agree with the other though, If kids like Daum, Holden Ryan and Jesse Sims needed any more affirmation of the choice they made, then today was that affirmation. Had they chosen MSU, I don't think they would have been very happy today losing their head coach.

Totally agree! But Gunnar is kicking his own ass every day! Really hard! With spurs!